By the end of 2017 the IRS plans to send notification to applicable large employers (ALE) of potential liability for failure to comply with the “pay or play” mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These notifications (Letter 226J) will be sent to ALE employers that the IRS determines had one or more employee, in at least one month in 2015, that received a subsidy toward health care premiums purchased through the marketplace because the employer failed to provide health coverage that is compliant with the ACA requirements (affordable and providing minimum essential coverage). The IRS will make this determination based on information provided by employers on Forms 1094-C and 1095-C (required ACA reporting forms) as well as information provided to the IRS on individuals’ tax returns. Continue reading →

On March 1, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued IR-2016-34 to alert payroll and HR professionals to be cautious of a phishing email scheme that attempts to gain personal information about employees.

The emails look to be from company executives and request personal information regarding employees. Among the email messages reported, the following are some of the details included:

“Kindly send me the individual 2015 W-2 (PDF) and earnings summary of all W-2 of our company staff for a quick review.”

“Can you send me the updated list of employees with full details (Name, Social Security Number, Date of Birth, Home Address, Salary).”

“I want you to send me the list of W-2 copy of employees wage and tax statements for 2015, I need them in PDF file type, you can send it as an attachment. Kindly prepare the lists and email them to me asap.”

Be sure to notify your employees, especially those in your Payroll and HR Departments or those that have access to personal employee information. Before sending any personal information, employees should verify that the executive requesting the information did in fact send the request.

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